Affordable, safe, effective vaccine protecting young people
from devastating disease
GENEVA, Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A
revolutionary meningitis vaccine will reach the 100 millionth
person this week in a region of Africa that has been plagued by deadly
epidemics for more than a century. The milestone will take place in
northern Nigeria, part of
Africa's "meningitis belt," where
the country is conducting its second seasonal immunisation campaign
against the disease.
The historic achievement comes two years after the MenAfriVac®
vaccine was first launched in Burkina
Faso. Since then, nine other countries have held vaccination
campaigns to protect people from ages 1 to 29 against meningitis
A.
Nigeria will vaccinate 16
million people over the next two weeks and Cameroon and Chad are also conducting immunisation
campaigns this week targeting 5.5 million and 2.3 million people
respectively. By the end of this year, the vaccine will have
reached more than 112 million people, providing widespread and
long-awaited protection.
The achievement will be recognised at the GAVI Alliance
Partners' Forum, which is bringing together developing countries,
donors, civil society, technical and research institutes, health
agencies, and the vaccine industry this week in Dar es Salaam, the
capital of the United Republic of Tanzania.
"When we began developing this vaccine, we knew how desperately
it was needed, and we hoped it would quickly provide relief for the
many people who dread sub-Saharan Africa's meningitis season," said
Steve Davis, president and CEO of
PATH, which partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) to
create MenAfriVac®. "We are so proud to see African countries
quickly embrace this vaccine and to see that deadly and
debilitating meningitis cases have virtually disappeared in the
regions that have been vaccinated."
"This milestone has been achieved thanks to the commitment of
national governments and support from WHO and other partners," said
Dr. Flavia Bustreo, WHO assistant
director-general for family, women, and children's health. "We must
continue our efforts to implement vaccination campaigns in the
remaining meningitis belt countries and ensure widespread uptake of
the MenAfriVac® vaccine."
"Meningitis is a terrible disease which kills young people,
creates severe neurological damage in many survivors, and
devastates communities," said Dr. Seth
Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance, which is providing
funding for the vaccines being used in the campaigns. "It is
nothing short of remarkable that exactly two years after the first
GAVI-funded meningitis vaccination campaign in the meningitis belt,
the 100 millionth will have their life protected."
"The development of MenAfriVac® as a low-cost vaccine was
critically important for the global health community," said
Chris Elias, president of Global
Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Vaccines
work to save and improve lives and the speed with which the
governments in meningitis-affected countries have introduced this
new vaccine to protect young people is exemplary."
"Meningitis A epidemics have affected the poorest families in
countries of the Sahel, in the worst cases killing one third of the
affected community," said Geeta Rao
Gupta, deputy executive director of UNICEF. "But now
campaigns are bringing hope to the poor families of previously
unreached communities, which are mobilising their members around
this safe, effective and affordable vaccine."
Seasonal meningitis A epidemics threaten the lives of 450
million people living in the meningitis belt, which stretches
through 26 countries from Gambia
in the west to Eritrea in the
east. The disease causes a painful inflammation of the lining
around the brain and the spine that can kill people within 24 to 48
hours. Those who survive often face severe learning difficulties,
deafness, or amputated limbs. Children and young adults are most at
risk.
In the largest-ever seasonal epidemic in Africa's history, in 1996-1997, meningitis A
infected 250,000 people and killed 25,000. In 1997, African
ministers of health appealed to WHO and other partners to find a
lasting solution to the dreadful disease.
In 2001, PATH and WHO formed the Meningitis Vaccine Project to
develop a vaccine that would tackle the meningococcus strain that
causes meningitis A at a price that African countries could afford.
Historically, new vaccines have either not been designed to cover
variants of diseases found in developing countries or have been too
expensive for developing countries to include in their immunisation
schedules. The partners worked with the Serum Institute of India
Ltd. to develop and manufacture the vaccine at a cost of less than
US$0.50 per dose.
The vaccine has already significantly reduced the burden of
meningitis in the regions where it has been introduced. In
Burkina Faso, which launched the
inaugural MenAfriVac® campaign in December
2010, there were no cases of meningitis A among those who
were vaccinated.
"This vaccine is having a tremendous impact on the lives of
people in some of the world's most vulnerable towns and villages,"
Berkley said. "The partners involved in developing this vaccine
deserve tremendous credit for ensuring the right vaccine is
available at the right price."
On October 31, 2012, MenAfriVac®
received approval be kept outside the cold chain for up to four
days at up to 40 degrees C, in a controlled temperature chain
(CTC). MenAfriVac® is the first vaccine intended for use in
Africa approved for this type of
use, potentially setting a regulatory path that other heat-stable
vaccines can follow.
Cold chain limitations have posed logistical challenges for
MenAfriVac® and other vaccine programmes, increasing programme
costs, delaying roll-outs, limiting access to "last mile"
communities and allowing outbreaks to continue. Benin launched the pilot project using the new
CTC approach during its rollout of the vaccine November 15 to 25.
Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger,
Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Sudan, Ghana,
Benin, and Senegal have all conducted campaigns with the
MenAfriVac® vaccine since its introduction in 2010.
About GAVI:
The GAVI Alliance is a public-private
partnership committed to saving children's lives and protecting
people's health by increasing access to immunisation in developing
countries. The Alliance brings together developing country and
donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World
Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other private
philanthropists. GAVI uses innovative finance mechanisms, including
co-financing by recipient countries, to secure sustainable funding
and adequate supply of quality vaccines. Since 2000, GAVI has
financed the immunisation of an additional 370 million children and
prevented more than 5.5 million premature deaths. Learn more at
www.gavialliance.org and connect with us on Facebook and
Twitter.
GAVI is funded by governments (Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan,
Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Korea, Russia, South
Africa, Spain, Sweden, United
Kingdom, United States),
the European Commission, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
as well as private and corporate partners (Absolute Return for
Kids, Anglo American plc, The
Children's Investment Fund Foundation, Comic Relief, His Highness
Sheikh Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, JP
Morgan, "la Caixa" Foundation, LDS Charities).
To access broadcast-quality footage from the GAVI library,
please visit: http://www.gavi-video.org/content/index.asp
About the World Health Organization:
WHO is the
directing and coordinating authority for health within the United
Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on
global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting
norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options,
improving global health security, providing technical support to
countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
About PATH
PATH is an international nonprofit organization that transforms
global health through innovation. PATH takes an entrepreneurial
approach to developing and delivering high-impact, low-cost
solutions, from lifesaving vaccines, drugs, and devices to
collaborative programs with communities. Through its work in more
than 70 countries, PATH and its partners empower people to achieve
their full potential.
For more information, please visit www.path.org.
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to help children
survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The
world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries,
UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and
sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the
protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.
UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of
individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more
information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org
SOURCE PATH